Federal Judge Orders Virginia School Board to Allow Girl to Use Boys’ Restroom

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal judge in Virginia has ordered a local school board to allow a female student who identifies as male to use the the boys’ restroom at her public high school.

As previously reported, Gavin Grimm, now 17, told reporters in December 2014 that she began using the boys’ restroom after obtaining permission from the school principal when she expressed disapproval over being forced to use the nurse restroom.

“I’m not a girl. I’m not using the girl’s restroom,” Grimm stated. “So I said, ‘Hey, where can I use the restroom?’ … And so they said, ‘Use the nurse’s room,’ and at the time I was fine with that, because I was still afraid—I didn’t know how my peers would react. So, I didn’t want to push the envelope any further than I had to all at once.”

But she said that the option soon became a problem.

“The nurse’s office is at least a three minute walk from the class I have closest to it. It took a substantial amount of time out of my class time, and it was embarrassing,” Grimm said. “When you’re gone for 15 minutes at a time to use the bathroom, what are high schoolers gonna think? It’s humiliating and it’s alienating.”

The student therefore asked the principal about the matter, who suggested that Grimm go ahead and use the men’s restroom since she identifies as a boy. But some of the parents of the male students soon learned about the allowance, and the issue turned up before the school board.

Due to the concerns of parents, the board voted to approve a policy requiring students to utilize the restroom that correlates with their biological gender, or to use a private bathroom.

But in response, Grimm sued the Gloucester County School Board with the aid of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in an effort to overturn the policy.

“By excluding Gavin—a transgender boy—from the boys restrooms because the school board does not deem him to be ‘biologically’ male, the school board, under color of state law, has treated and continues to treat Gavin differently from similarly situated students based on his gender,” the suit asserted.

Last September, District Court Judge Robert Doumar, appointed to the bench by then-President Ronald Reagan, ruled against Grimm, disagreeing with the ACLU that the board had violated Title IX with its restroom policy.

“Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and not on the basis of other concepts such as gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation,” Doumar wrote.

The ACLU appealed the decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled 2-1 in favor of Grimm in April by pointing to the Obama administration’s recent interpretations of the federal statute.

“At the heart of this appeal is whether Title IX requires schools to provide transgender students access to restrooms congruent with their gender identity,” the three-judge panel wrote. “We conclude that the department’s interpretation of its own regulation . . . as it relates to restroom access by transgender individuals, is . . . to be accorded controlling weight in this case.”

It then sent the case back to Doumar, who was instructed to rule in light of how the U.S. Department of Education views the federal statute. The U.S. Department of Justice had filed a statement of interest in Grimm’s case as well.

On Thursday, Doumar issued an injunction in favor of Grimm while her case moves forward, requiring the Gloucester County School board to allow Grimm to use the urinals in the boys’ restroom.

“This court … hereby orders that Gloucester County School Board permit the plaintiff, G.G., to use the boys’ restroom at Gloucester High School until further order of this court,” Doumar wrote.

The order is limited to the restroom and does not include locker room use or any other similar facilities.

“I am elated to hear that I’ll be able to attend my senior year of high school with my full rights restored,” Grimm said in a statement released by the ACLU. “After nearly two years of humiliation and intense struggle, equality has finally prevailed. Now hopefully other transgender people will not have to face this type of discrimination.”

The board plans to appeal the ruling to the United States Supreme Court.

“The school board understands the implications of the order and will continue to defend its reasonable and nondiscriminatory solution to this issue at the Supreme Court and trial court levels,” a spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.

A special message from the publisher...

Dear Reader, our hearts are deeply grieved by the ongoing devastation in Iraq, and through this we have been compelled to take a stand at the gates of hell against the enemy who came to kill and destroy. Bibles for Iraq is a project to put Arabic and Kurdish audio Bibles into the hands of Iraqi and Syrian refugees—many of whom are illiterate and who have never heard the gospel.Will you stand with us and make a donation today to this important effort? Please click here to send a Bible to a refugee >>

Commenting Guidelines: We welcome readers to comment on stories, but we will not tolerate remarks containing profanity, vulgarity, violence, blasphemy, all caps or any discourteous behavior. Thank you for your cooperation in maintaining a respectful public environment where readers can engage in reasonable discussion about matters affecting our nation and our world.Read More →

Reason2012

“I’m not a girl. I’m not using the girl’s restroom,” Grimm stated.
And all girls who ARE girls and want to use the girl’s restroom and girl’s locker room, not co-ed rest rooms or co-ed locker rooms. But as long as they let boys walk in on them, let alone boys with mental confusion issues, now all THEIR rights are being trampled on.

Get active, folks – the perversion activists are forcing their perverse version of immorality on the rest of America because we let them.

TheBottomline4This

Shhh!!!. Don’t you know that if we don’t’ enable their delusions they could possibly commit suicide. Keep the truth to yourself. Sheesh 😉

Reason2012

“I am elated to hear that I’ll be able to attend my senior year of high school with my full rights restored,” Grimm said in a statement released by the ACLU.

Meanwhile too bad for everyone else that has THEIR rights violated instead.

“After nearly two years of humiliation and intense struggle, …

Now we can humiliate everyone else for having their rights violated by having those who don’t belong there walking in on them.

.. equality has finally prevailed.

It’s “equality” to force guys to let girls walk in on them in bathrooms?
It’s “equality” to force girls to let guys walk in on them in bathrooms?

Behold the deception of the perversion activists.

Now hopefully other transgender people will not have to face this type of discrimination.”

Discriminating against everyone else is not the way you stop supposed discrimination.

We need three bathrooms, one for boys, one for girls and one for those who are too confused to figure it out and need help – THAT would be equality.

Or we can go back to adhering to basic biology: If you have male genitalia you’re a boy and you use the corresponding restroom, if you have female genitalia, you’re a girl and you use the corresponding restroom. If you’re confused by this, you get help figuring it out.

Slidellman4life

So pandering to mental illness is equality, huh?

Only to the mentally ill.

Ronald Carter

Are you qualified medically to diagnose mental illness, Matthew?

George

homosexuality was known as a mental illness in the dsm in the 70’s till the homo lobby group demanded it removed. Everyone knows homosexuality is a mental illness, heck, even my kids know it is…

Ronald Carter

That is such utter nonsense, that was debunked ages ago. Gays were so marginalized in the 1970s and had no power, never mind to take on a titan of science and medicine like the APA. As if you could ever lobby a body of science.

Reason2012

“The ACLU appealed the decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled 2-1 in favor of Grimm in April by pointing to the Obama administration’s recent interpretations of the federal statute.”

The President does not make laws.

The President does not interpret laws.

This ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is a farce and the judge needs to be removed for his false ruling that violates our laws / our Constitution.

Vetoing a law is not the same as suddenly deciding to “re-interpret” a law that has been in existent and enforcing his own brand new interpretation of that law on America.

Jim Bart

So because a corrupt Republican did it, a corrupt Democrat should be allowed to do it also.. Good reasoning.

hytre64

A Veto is a used to prevent a bill from becoming a law – it does not interpret the law.

A signing statement has no force of law. It merely records the president’s intentions while signing the law.

TheKingOfRhye

True enough. I did say “kinda” and “to an extent”…lol

It’s true that signing statements are not law….yet the President is the one in charge of carrying out the laws, so there’s SOME interpretation going on.

TheBottomline4This

Grimm is mentally ill.
” two years of humiliation and intense struggle” You brought this on yourself Grimm.
Hopefully you can find mental help soon. Though most counselors hands are tied at this time, so it may be a while. You hang in there girl. Oops you can’t hang can ya since you’re not really a guy, lol. Pun intended.

Amos Moses

Go against Gods ordained order …… consequences follow …….. just cant fix everything with a “marriage” that really is not one ………….

KNOXVILLE — If Erica Witt were a man, she would have just as much right to a daughter conceived via artificial insemination as her spouse.

But, in the first ruling of its kind in Tennessee, a Knox County judge on Friday opined that because she is a woman who legally married a woman, state law does not confer to her either the power of decision-making over the child or the obligation to provide financial support for the girl now that the same sex couple is divorcing.

“I believe this is a situation where (Erica Witt) has no biological relationship with this child, has no contractual relationship with this child,” Fourth Circuit Court Judge Greg McMillan ruled.

Erica Witt and Sabrina Witt legally wed in Washington, D.C., in April 2014, bought a home in Knoxville and decided to have a child via artificial insemination from an anonymous donor. Sabrina Witt bore a baby girl as a result in January 2015. Because Tennessee did not then recognize same sex marriage as legal, Erica Witt’s name was not placed on the baby’s birth certificate.

More @ Knoxville News Sentinel

TheKingOfRhye

I like what Erica Witt’s lawyer said. “”The argument that marriage may only consist of a ‘husband’ and a ‘wife’
has been held to be unconstitutional,” Schwamm said. “(Tennessee
marriage certificates) still (indicate) male and female, but surely that
no longer applies. Just because the statute reads man and woman, this
court can interpret the statute in a manner that makes it
constitutional.”

I mean, like it or not, same-sex marriage IS legal, so courts have to treat it the same as an opposite-sex marriage….it would have to be treated just as if it was an opposite-sex couple in the same situation.

Amos Moses

“I mean, like it or not, same-sex marriage IS legal,”

Not a matter of like or not like ……………… but if that were the case ………… these two deluded women can now see just how goofed up what they have done is …… though they will surely deny it ………. and it would seem that they have a big dislike for what they have done ……….. and the one who is REALLY going to pay the price ………… is the child they …………. well i am not even sure what you would call it ……………. “colluded” ………. “inseminated” ……….. i guess “damaged” is about the most appropriate word………… and all for their selfish defiant act …….. against Gods order …………… and the consequences for ALL are flowing …………..

TheKingOfRhye

“Not a matter of like or not like” is right. It doesn’t matter if you like it or not, that’s what I was saying. As for the rest of that….uh, what? Are you claiming to be a mind-reader? Since you seem to think you know that they can “see just how goofed up what they have done is”, apparently better than they let on themselves. I honestly can barely make sense out…………………………of…………….that…………………..with……………….the…..
way……………………..you……………………write…………………….things…………
like………………………………………..that.

(That’s annoying to even type something like that, to be honest)

Amos Moses

“Since you seem to think you know that they can “see just how goofed up what they have done is”, apparently better than they let on themselves. ”

They are already lying to themselves …………………. what is going to change that ……….. you lie to yourself ………….. don’t have to be a mind reader to see what is going on ………. nor to read the nonsense you post …………….

TheKingOfRhye

I lie to myself? Uh, okay then…..do tell, what it is I’m lying to myself about?

Amos Moses

that God does not exist …………. you have said He does not exist …… you suppress the truth in unrighteousness ……..

TheKingOfRhye

That’s wrong for a few reasons. For one, I have never said “God does not exist.” I don’t claim to know that. Haven’t we had this discussion SEVERAL times by now? I don’t believe in any god. That is NOT the same thing as saying there is no god.

And furthermore, even if I DID say that God does not exist, and I was wrong about that….it wouldn’t be a LIE, if that what was what I really believed. Being mistaken or wrong about something is not the same thing as lying about something.

Amos Moses

” I have never said “God does not exist.” I don’t claim to know that.”
“And furthermore, even if I DID say that God does not exist,”

Self-contradictory statements ……………….. there is one sure way for you to know ….. you are here …………. and to say otherwise …… in fact the only way to say otherwise ……. is to lie to yourself ……. to suppress the truth in unrighteousness ……………

“Being mistaken or wrong about something is not the same thing as lying about something.”

You are wrong ………….. and you lie to yourself to convince yourself of the lie ………….

TheKingOfRhye

No, they are not “self contradictory statements,” they’re statements of my lack of knowledge. The “you are here” argument is, at most, proof of “a god,” not “God”. (And I don’t believe it is that.)

Wait a minute now…..so, I’m lying to myself to convince myself of the lie to myself, is that it? Not sure if that makes sense or not.

Maybe I should just say I’m lying…then I’d be lying about lying about lying, or something like that. I’m getting confused here.

TheKingOfRhye

“you have said He does not exist”

Find one time where I’ve said that.

Amos Moses

You have said you cannot say He exists or does not exist ………… amounts to the samething ………… Quote ………

“I thought I’ve told you before, I don’t claim to know whether a god exists or not. I don’t know why you’re insisting that I “want to prove it to be otherwise”….”

Amos Moses

” I honestly can barely make sense out………………………… of ……………. that ………………….. with ……………….the….. way …………………….. you …………………… write ……………………. things ………… like………………………………………..that.”

No one is forcing you to read or respond ……… are they …….. your “wound” is self-inflicted ………. and you do not make sense in any event ……..

Ronald Carter

Can you not construct simple sentences separated by a single item of punctuation like most normal people? Having all your ideas trail away as though they are random thoughts actually illuminates the problem with you really well.

Amos Moses

Comforting the afflicted …………. Afflicting the comfortable ………….. Deal with it ……..

Slidellman4life

Best response from Gloucester County School Board: Immediate expulsion.

But they won’t do it because they are more girly than the nutter is.

Ronald Carter

Yes, expel her because she wants to feel comfortable in a washroom. Real compassionate and Christ-like attitude there, champ.

Jim Bart

They are not comfortable at anytime anywhere. Why do you think 60% have tried to commit suicide? And don’t give me that liberal lie because they are picked on or Jews would be extinct at their own hands from thousands of years of hatred, its because they are not mentally stable.

Ronald Carter

Must be nice to be able to speak from someone else’s experience, as if you have any clue at all what it’s like to be what they are.

Jim Bart

I don’t need to be in their shoes to know the struggle. I have had many of my own. And no struggle is easy. But I chose, with Gods help, to work through them and not give in. we are to FLEE immorality Not throw it a parade and accept it as normal, and then call every one who don’t accept it bigots and homophobic.. because it’s not normal. No sin is any different than any other, it’s all sin.. and it’s all punishable by death.. Romans 6:23.

why do we take the sin, God calls an abomination and make excuses for it and give it special privileges? Yes, putting men in women’s bathrooms and vise versa is a special privilege. Letting men and women walk down the street half naked in a parade with children around is special treatment, and would land most of us in a jail cell. but at a gay pride parade speak out and you’ll be the one in a cell, that’s special privileges. It’s called, calling good evil and evil good. And God says Woe to them…

First Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

So there is no excuse, they have a way out, and if you condone it you will be held accountable for it.

Ronald Carter

You admit you know nothing about what they are going through and at the same time insist that they need God’s help? How can you make a prescription like that when you admit yourself you don’t understand the issue?

Jim Bart

Not once did I say I didn’t know what they are going through, I said the total opposite, No temptation they are going through is new to man, and God gives them a way out. They have no excuse, just like you have no excuse for defending the behavior.

Ronald Carter

You said you didn’t need to be in their shoes to know the struggle. I’m saying yes you do. You can’t apply this magical prescription of Jesus for every single situation. And what “behavior” are you talking about exactly? Using a bathroom?

Jim Bart

Well your wrong. Jesus is the answer for every single situation, Your comment, And what “behavior” are you talking about exactly? Using a bathroom? YES.. Putting a girl in the men’s room or a man in the women’s room because they feel like the other sex that day is a HUGE problem. . If you don’t see a problem there, maybe God already gave you over to a reprobate mind. Just like the people in Sodom, now all you have to do is wait for Gods judgement on you. Repent while you still have time.

Ronald Carter

Maybe Jesus can do an lot of things but He can’t “cure” homosexuals or transgenders of what isn’t a disease. Also, I am wiling to bet most of the transgenders you’ve seen were not even identifiable. But they sure would have been if they’d used the bathroom that corresponded to their birth sex. I don’t think you’d like it very much at all, sharing a public washroom with another man who looks in every respect like a woman. Save your repenting for yourself.

David Nitz

Using the boys’ urinal could be a steep learning curve.

TheKingOfRhye

You ever see a men’s, or boys, public bathroom that had only urinals and no stalls? I haven’t.

getstryker

Well, we’re all sure that you ‘squat to pee’ . . . no surprise there!

TheKingOfRhye

Way to keep it classy…..what are you, like 12?

Weary Warrior

I’m an old woman feeling terribly naive. How does a girl use a urinal?

Gena B

That would have been interesting if the Court has said ‘sure you can use the boys bathroom as long as it’s a urinal.’ I say good luck with that, oops that’s right it doesn’t work because you are a girlllllll….

getstryker

Oh, but it can work . . . the ‘liberal mind’ is full of ‘possibilities’ . . . much like my 2 year old grandson’s diaper – yep – full of it.

getstryker

Well, lets imagine . . . if the stalls are full – the ‘girl/boy’ drops its pants and sits on the urinal – facing outboard. I’m sure a great big smile will brighten up the potty for everyone in attendance. See that – equality!

Grace Kim Kwon

Schools should make a separate restroom for willfully confused children instead of abusing other boys and girls. Letting biological girls into boys’ washrooms further hurts boys’ manhood.

Nidalap

And this is what putting the inmates in charge of the asylum looks like…

Jim Bart

God doesn’t say “Woe” to often, but when He does, It’s Major serious…

Revelation 12:12 says, Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! WHY??
for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath…. That’s serious..

Or Revelation 18:10 When a whole city is destroyed for her wickedness in One hour..

‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’

Or Revelation 8:13 when the last 3 trumpet judgments are sounded… “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”

But ungodly deceived people continue to say this is a good thing, even though God calls it evil. Well….

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, Isaiah 5:20.

Your Judgement is coming soon. Repent. Don’t support this

robertzaccour

Am I the only one that thinks this bathroom confusion is just a big distraction?

IzTheBiz

They’re not trans anything, poor things! They are just confused and being fed all this ideology crap about sexuality.

Grace Kim Kwon

Children need the instructions of the Lord from the Holy Bible to live out the truth instead of lies.

http://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/ Kingdom Ambassador

QUESTION: Would this have ever occurred in 17th-century Christian Colonial America whose governments of, by, and for God were established upon Yahweh’s immutable moral law, including Deuteronomy 22:5 and Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13?

ANSWER: Of course, not!

OBSERVATION: There must, therefore, be a definitive moment in America’s history when her Christian character and biblical course were formally altered. That point was in 1787 when the 18th-century founders replaced the 17th-century Colonial governments for their own humanistic government
of, by, and for the people based upon capricious man-made Enlightenment traditions.

EVIDENCE: See free online book “Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective,” in which every Article and Amendment is examined by the Bible.” Click on my name, then our website. Go to our Online Books page and click on the top entry.

Then, find out how much you REALLY know about the Constitution as compared to the Bible. Take our 10-question Constitution Survey in the right-hand sidebar and receive a complimentary copy of a book that EXAMINES the Constitution by the Bible.

Get Breaking Christian News in Your Inbox!

Sign Me Up! Top Daily Top Weekly

Christian News Headlines

Keep your site fresh and your visitors coming back by featuring Christian News Network's top news stories on your site. Learn more →

Connect With Us:

Learn More

About Christian News Network

Christian News Network provides up-to-date news and information affecting the body of Christ worldwide from an uncompromising Biblical worldview. Our objective is to present the news with the word of God as our lens, and to bring to light what is hid in the darkness. Learn more →